I've been feeling really driven with the need to apply myself artistically these days. With my craft supplies still pretty much shoved into places where my naughty two can't reach them, i really haven't been able to put to paper all the delightful ideas that pop into my mind. And this particular situation can be really annoying for someone with the innate creative energy.

But the other day, all domestic activities aside, i sat down and made myself this logo for a product idea that has been floating in my head for a while. And at 6 AM, after 5 hours of CG-ing through the night, a finished image made all the self imposed awakeful achey-ness go away. And then by some stroke of good luck the boys slept longer than i thought they would, so i did manage to catch a few winks.

Anyway, looking forward to a trip to the market to get some supplies and getting to work! Until next time!

No matter how busy my schedule, or how many pending things on my to-do list; when an opportunity to craft comes along i find it very hard to resist. The reasonable part of my brain highlights the lack of feasibility of squeezing in more chores but the other ambitious part seems to push for a little sense of achievement. And while most sleepless nights and loud days often don't result in the fruitful culmination of all projects, this particular time it wasn't the case.

I had already packed half of my tools and card stock when the phone call from friend-mentor-cousin and proud owner of Saddy's Cakeworks came along telling me a client was interested in getting party favors made, and asked me to call them if i felt i could do it. Long story short, after much debate, the call was made, the order placed, and in three nights i had 35 of these beauties designed, cut, embossed and embellished and sitting pretty on my mom's dining table. I have to say i couldn't have done it without the family's support with rolling the rosettes and babysitting but also that this little venture made me feel up to more crafty challenges, revived love and respect for my Silhouette SD and crafting in general. I cant imagine there was once a time i could not imagine myself not drawing and painting figures.

]]>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:34:39 GMThttp://www.embeearqam.com/blog/there-and-back-againNo matter how long your journey, it always comes to a close. And whether you have made the most of lingers on your mind as you trouble over all the surplus items you have greedily hoarded, and all the new beginnings you plan on making once back home.

Six months is too long a time for vacation, and too short for our wandering lifestyle to count as truly being away. There's an eager anticipation to return to things left behind, memories yet to be made, occasions yet to be celebrated. There's a tiny holocaust lingering in the closing bracket of time to do as much as possible before leaving this opportune continent. A constant battle of available space versus available greens versus available access, all weighing down one another now and again.

I wonder if the sky-scape back home was as grand everyday as the cloud splattered azure canvas of the southern states. . . I wonder whether stepping off the plane will be a rush of nostalgia or a nonchalance. . . And would all the things I have learnt of lifestyle and luxury bury themselves under the existing rush of an ongoing tradition previosuly etched in stone.

Time will tell all. ]]>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:01:06 GMThttp://www.embeearqam.com/blog/on-vintage-vectors-and-vacationAn 'Aaloo' literally means 'potato' in Urdu... but commonly used in the Air Force as a pun, it gains another meaning which does not ascribe to its vegetable nature. It infers the 'peeling of potatos'; doing a job that is not yours to do, and possibly one you will not get credit for. Mundane drudgery generally piled on top of your regular duties... like sifting through a sack of tubers, dusty, mottled, humongous, untouched.

So sometimes, when I help out my hubby with his relatively artistic endeavours, I jokingly call it my ' aaloo' although, i mostly look forward to the challenge, because i find my creative instincts spurred on by the delegated task, and i assume it to be non pressured practice for times when i work for clients.

And so, I took a day to some photomanipulation using random images off the web, and we were both pretty pleased with the result...I don'nt want to put the entire project up for privacy's sake, but I really wanted to share this vintage version of the display, only coz i'm kinda proud of it:

Though he really made a face at my signature at the bottom, coz it really wa shis brainchild.

Besides that, I'm happy that Jin Yong of Underacherrytree.com agreed to help me out by testing my first attempt at designing svg print/cut files. So hopefully we will be seeing some reviews on that soon. But for the next few days until Monday, we're plannign a Road trip to California, taking our little boy out to Disneyland, Universal Studios etc. Although I have to admit i am more excited about the whole trip than him and my hubby! :D

Until next time~

]]>Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:44:28 GMThttp://www.embeearqam.com/blog/through-the-mini-time-machineIf you ever happen to come to Southern Arizona, you should definitely visit The Mini-Time Machine : Musseum of Miniatures.For one reason or another, we seemed to have only ended up there last Saturday, (Yes, this entry has been sitting here unfinished for almost a week! The Horror! ) one of our last weekends here in AZ, but once inside, we immediately wished we had come here sooner with more time on our hands.

The museum features a few different collections and displays, who's level of detail and craftsmanship is hard to imagine. Take the images below for instance... A photograph doesn't do justice to the intricacy, nor is it evidence of the fact that this particular ornate room takes up less than a square foot of space.

Needless to Say, my favourite part of the whole tour was the enchanted realm, featuring Disneyland, wintertime wonderland, sleepy hollow, fairies, dragons, trolls, and critters etc, all perfectly enchanting and impressive within their own magical settings!

My favourite display of all! Those dragons were so adorable, i wanted them all for my own!

Cinderella, anyone?

I shoved my finger in just to show the scale and level of detail....

Can you imagine details of this magnitude inside the confines of an actual walnut?!!

I came back from it all kinds pf inspired! i felt like i could do all sorts of imagery! I had all these ideas bubbling through my head. I've been meaning to start practicing and making cut-able designs for when i eventually get my Silhouette CAMEO end of this year... and I wanted to build up a personalized image library to use until then, for which I've been seriously attempting anything i'm designing from the POV that it needs to be cut and layered on paper. Which is probably where the problem is, because i'm probably thinking too much in terms of construction that the actual design is neglected in retrospect. But I'm still hopeful that i will ultimately get the hang of it. Hats off to all those seriously talented people on the web, who's turn to do's to done's every day!

Here's what I thought I will do. Each weekend, until October, I will put up a package of things I've designed up on the site. These will constitute of 1 freebie, which will be available for download to anyone who drops by on the blog, and 1 giveaway, a singular or set of digital graphics which maybe both clipart or svgs, whatever tickled my fancy over the week. More details tomorrow when we visit the Orient!

As always, leave a comment if you're reading this!

]]>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:16:04 GMThttp://www.embeearqam.com/blog/thankyou-weeblyI know, i know. You must be thinking... this is yet another ambitious pursuit that Embee Arqam has taken at blogging... and one like the many prior ones, she is NOT going to follow through....What can I say? You have every right to think that given my previous blog history... but you know what, I have a good feeling about this one! So while I'm not going to mark a goal here... I'm just going to leave the impending sense of one! I really think, one good deed deserves another came into play here. I'm usually the kind with big ideas and little action ultimately. And I'm also usually too preoccupied in my own personal whims to actually ever do much philanthropy, etc. So when i volunteered at "Unearth the Gems!" I must've been doing something right, coz it led me to Weebly, and now, half a day later, i have this site up and running! And I have to say for a fact that i like this layout and colour scheme much better than anything i've thrown together previously! Check it out... They have tools to help, n00bs like me who have no clue about html, flash etc. And then they have capacity for non n00bies too! Now you can make a page fr just about everything and anything!Go like their FB page! Coz I said so! ]]>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:32:01 GMThttp://www.embeearqam.com/blog/first-postI've always been fascinated by the world of blogging... i guess there is something very self flattering about having something that you do, that you can share, and that people appreciate. Its also a link to other people who have the same likes and interests as you.. which is sometimes hard to find offline at times.

My previous attempts at craft related blogging can be found hereand another travel journal here. ]]>